Counter substrate and display panel

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a counter substrate and display panel. The counter substrate includes a base substrate, PS pattern layer and alignment film. A surface of the PS pattern layer away from the base substrate is a support surface, and the PS pattern layer includes: main PSs in a display area and a peripheral barrier wall in a non-display area. The peripheral barrier wall has an elongated-strip shape and has a same length direction as a corresponding display area side, the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall is closer to the base substrate than that of the main PS, and a distance between the support surfaces of the peripheral barrier wall and main PS in a thickness direction is a first distance. A ratio between a width of the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall and the first distance is less than 100.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 17/358,052, filed on Jun. 25, 2021, which is based upon and claimspriority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202023183906.1, filed on Dec.25, 2020, the entire contents thereof are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, inparticular, to a counter substrate and a display panel.

BACKGROUND

With the development of liquid crystal technology, high-quality,low-power and non-radiation thin film transistor-liquid crystal displaypanels (TFT-LCD) have become popular in the market. In a cell process ofthe liquid crystal display panel, the forming of an alignment film is acrucial process, which has a great impact on product yield and picturequality. However, at present, solution accumulation intends to occur inthe process of forming the alignment film. In this case, uneven displaybrightness (Mura) or obvious yellowing phenomenon is prone to appear,which affects a product optical quality.

It shall be noted that the information disclosed in the backgroundsection above is only used to enhance the understanding of thebackground of the present disclosure, and therefore may includeinformation that does not constitute the prior art known to thoseskilled in the art.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a counter substrate and a display panel.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a counter substrateincluding a display area and a non-display area arranged around thedisplay area, wherein the counter substrate includes a base substrate, aphoto spacer (PS) pattern layer formed on the base substrate and analignment film covering the PS pattern layer, a surface of the PSpattern layer away from the base substrate is a support surface, and thePS pattern layer includes:

-   -   a plurality of main PSs, located in the display area, and each        having a pillar shape; and    -   at least one peripheral barrier wall, located in the non-display        area and arranged at at least one side of the display area, the        peripheral barrier wall having an elongated-strip shape and        having a same length direction as that of a display area side,        corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall, of the display        area, the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall being        closer to the base substrate than the support surface of the        main PS, and a distance between the support surface of the        peripheral barrier wall and the support surface of the main PS        in a thickness direction of the base substrate being a first        distance,    -   wherein a ratio between a width of the support surface of the        peripheral barrier wall and the first distance is less than 100.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first distanceis in a range of 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the width of thesupport surface of the peripheral barrier wall is in a range of 10 μm to15 μm.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the PS patternlayer further includes:

-   -   at least one peripheral PS group, arranged on the non-display        area, the peripheral PS group being located at least at a side        of the peripheral barrier wall close to the display area,    -   wherein the peripheral PS group includes a plurality of        peripheral PSs spaced apart from each other along the length        direction of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to the        peripheral PS group, the peripheral PS has a pillar shape, and        the support surface of the peripheral PS and the support surface        of the peripheral barrier wall are in a same plane.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure:

-   -   a distance between at least part of the peripheral PSs in each        of the at least one peripheral PS group and the peripheral        barrier wall corresponding to the peripheral PSs is a second        distance, and    -   a ratio between the second distance and the first distance is        greater than 400.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the seconddistance is in a range of 80 μm to 100 μm.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an orthographicprojection of the peripheral barrier wall on the base substrate is arectangle, and the distance between the peripheral barrier wall and eachof the peripheral PSs in the peripheral PS group corresponding to theperipheral barrier wall.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure:

-   -   in the length direction of the peripheral barrier wall, two ends        of the peripheral barrier wall are respectively flush with two        ends of the display area side corresponding to the peripheral        barrier wall, or the two ends of the peripheral barrier wall        respectively extend beyond the two ends of the display area side        corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall; and    -   in the length direction of the peripheral barrier wall, two ends        of each of the at least one peripheral PS group are respectively        flush with the two ends of the peripheral barrier wall        corresponding to the peripheral PS group, or the two ends of        each of the at least one peripheral PS group respectively exceed        beyond the two ends of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding        to the peripheral PS group.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least oneperipheral barrier wall and the at least one peripheral PS group arearranged on the non-display area at each display area side of thedisplay area.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the PS patternlayer further includes:

-   -   a plurality of auxiliary PSs, located in the display area, the        auxiliary PS having a pillar shape, and the support surface of        the auxiliary PS being closer to the base substrate than the        support surface of the main PS,    -   wherein a number of the auxiliary PSs is greater than that of        the main PSs.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the lengthdirection of the peripheral barrier wall, a distance between adjacentones of the peripheral PSs is equal to that between adjacent ones of theauxiliary PSs.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the thicknessdirection of the base substrate, thicknesses of the main PS, theperipheral PS, and the peripheral barrier wall are the same and greaterthan a thickness of the auxiliary PS.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the countersubstrate further includes a black matrix pattern layer and a colorfilter layer, wherein

-   -   the black matrix pattern layer is arranged between the base        substrate and the PS pattern layer, and the color filter layer        is arranged between the black matrix pattern layer and the PS        pattern layer;    -   orthographic projections of the peripheral barrier wall and the        peripheral PSs on the base substrate are located in an        orthographic projection of the black matrix pattern layer on the        base substrate and outside an orthographic projection of the        color filter layer on the base substrate; and    -   orthographic projections of the main PSs and the auxiliary PSs        on the base substrate are located in the orthographic projection        of the black matrix pattern layer on the base substrate and in        the orthographic projection of the color filter layer on the        base substrate.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a display panelincluding the counter substrate described in any one of the aboveembodiments and an array substrate assembled together.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure:

-   -   a part of the alignment film of the counter substrate        corresponding to the main PS is in contact with the array        substrate; and    -   a gap is provided between a part of the alignment film of the        counter substrate corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall        and the array substrate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display panelfurther includes:

-   -   a frame sealant, arranged between the counter substrate and the        array substrate and in the non-display area, surrounding the        display area, and located at a side of the peripheral barrier        wall away from the display area; and    -   liquid crystal, filled in an area enclosed by the frame sealant,        the counter substrate and the array substrate.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure willbecome apparent through the following detailed description, or arepartly learned through the practice of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the above general description and thefollowing detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, whichdo not intend to limit the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings here are incorporated into the specification and constitutea part of the specification, show embodiments that conform to thepresent disclosure, and are used together with the specification toexplain the principle of the present disclosure. Obviously, the drawingsin the following description are only some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings may be obtainedbased on these drawings without creative work.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a counter substrateaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the counter substratetaken along the line C-C in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a structure of the counter substrateshown in FIG. 2 and an array substrate after being assembled;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a counter substrateaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structural diagram of a counter substrateaccording to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between a width ofperipheral barrier wall and a thickness of an alignment film thereon ina counter substrate according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between a seconddistance and a thickness of an alignment film on a peripheral barrierwall in a counter substrate according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a change of a cell thickness at eachside of a display panel from a side of a display area to a centerthereof according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a change of a cell thickness at eachside of a display panel from a side of a display area to a centerthereof according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solution of the present disclosure will be furtherdescribed below in detail through embodiments and in conjunction withthe drawings. In the specification, same or similar reference numeralsindicate same or similar components. The following description of theembodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings isintended to explain the general idea of the present disclosure, andshould not be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure.

In addition, for the convenience of explanation, many specific detailsare set forth in the following detailed description to provide acomprehensive understanding of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure. However, obviously, one or more embodiments may also beimplemented without these specific details.

Unless otherwise defined, technical terms or scientific terms used inthe present disclosure shall have the ordinary meanings understood bythose skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. Termssuch as “first” and “second” used in the present disclosure do notindicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used todistinguish different components.

Words such as “including”, “comprising” and “having” used in the presentdisclosure mean that an element or item before the word covers elementsor items listed after the word and equivalents thereof, but does notexclude other elements or items.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a counter substrate,which may be applied to a display panel, and specifically, to a liquidcrystal display panel. As shown in FIG. 1 , the counter substrate 10 mayinclude a display area A and a non-display area B arranged around thedisplay area A. The display area A and the non-display area B of thecounter substrate 10 may also be understood to be a whole display areaof the LCD panel.

The counter substrate 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the counter substrate 10 may include a basesubstrate 101, a black matrix pattern layer, a color filter layer 103, aphoto spacer (PS) pattern layer, and an alignment film 104.

The base substrate 101 may be a single-layer structure with a materialof glass, that is, the base substrate 101 may be a glass substrate, butthe present disclosure is not limited thereto. The base substrate 101 isnot limited to the single-layer structure, and may be a multi-layerstructure, and the material of the base substrate 101 is not limited toglass, and may be other materials, which depends on specific situations.It should be understood that when the counter substrate 10 ismanufactured, the display area A and the non-display area B may bedivided on the base substrate 101 first, and then the display area A andthe non-display area B are designed for facilitating subsequentmanufacturing of various functional films/layers.

The black matrix pattern layer may be formed on the base substrate 101,and may be located in the display area A and the non-display area B.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 , the black matrix pattern layer may bedivided into two portions, which are a first shielding portion 1021 anda second shielding portion 1022 respectively. The main part of the firstshielding portion 1021 may be located in the display area A, and theedge part of the first shielding portion 1021 may be located in thenon-display area B to be connected with the second shielding portion1022. However the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and thefirst shielding portion 1021 may also be completely located in thedisplay area A, which depends on specific situations. Further, anorthographic projection of the first shielding portion 1021 on the basesubstrate 101 is in a grid shape, that is, the first shielding portion1021 has a plurality of grid holes. The area corresponding to the gridholes in the first shielding portion 1021 may be understood as alight-transmitting area, and the remaining area may be understood as ashielding area. The second shielding portion 1022 may be located in thenon-display area B, and the second shielding portion 1022 is designed tohave no holes to shield the structure at the non-display area B.

The color filter layer 103 may be formed on a surface of the blackmatrix layer away from the base substrate 101. In other words, in theprocess of manufacturing the counter substrate 10, the black matrixpattern layer may be formed on the base substrate 101 first, and thenthe color filter layer 103 is formed on the matrix pattern layer.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the colorfilter layer 103 may also be formed first, and then the black matrixpattern layer is formed, which depends on specific situations.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the main part of the color filter layer 103 islocated in the display area A, and the edge part of the color filterlayer 103 may be located in the non-display area B, so as to ensure thedisplay effect where the display area A and the non-display area B arein contact with each other. For example, an orthographic projection ofthe color filter layer 103 on the base substrate 101 may completelycover an orthographic projection of the first shielding portion 1021 onthe base substrate 101, and does not overlap with an orthographicprojection of the second shielding portion 1022 on the base substrate101. It should be understood that the color filter layer 103 may filterlight, and the filtered light may be emitted through alight-transmitting area.

For example, the color filter layer 103 may include red, green, and bluecolor blocks to filter light into red, green, and blue light fordisplay, but it should be understood that the color filter layer 103 isnot limited to include the aforementioned red, green, and blue colorblocks, and may also include color blocks of other colors such asyellow, which depends on specific situations.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, since the first shieldingportion 1021 of the black matrix pattern layer thereon is covered withthe color filter layer 103, in order to reduce a cell thickness, thefirst shielding portion 1021 may be subjected to a thinning design.Since the second shielding portion 1022 is not covered with the colorfilter layer 103, the second shielding portion 1022 may not be needed tobe subjected to the thinning design, that is, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure, the thickness of the first shielding portion1021 may be smaller than the thickness of the second shielding portion1022.

It should be noted that the thickness of each structure mentioned in thepresent disclosure refers to the dimension in a thickness direction Z ofthe base substrate 101. In addition, it should be noted that the countersubstrate 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure maynot be provided with the color filter layer 103 in FIG. 2 , for example,the color filter layer 103 may be provided in an array substrate.

The PS pattern layer may be formed on the base substrate 101.Specifically, the PS pattern layer may be formed after the black matrixpattern layer and the color filter layer 103 are formed. For theconvenience of the following description, the present disclosure definesthe surface of the PS pattern layer away from the base substrate 101 asa support surface.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the PS pattern layer mayinclude a plurality of pillar-shaped photo spacers (PSs) located in thedisplay area A to maintain the uniformity of the cell thickness in thedisplay area A and improve the tolerance of the display panel to thefluctuation of liquid crystal molecules, thereby improving the yield ofthe display panel.

It should be noted that the pillar-shaped structure mentioned in thepresent disclosure refers to a structure in which a maximum size and aminimum size of the cross-section thereof are equal or not muchdifferent. It should be understood that the cross-section mentioned inpresent disclosure is a plane which is perpendicular to the thicknessdirection Z of the base substrate 101.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the plurality of pillar-shaped PSs located in thedisplay area A may include a plurality of main PSs 1051 and a pluralityof auxiliary PSs 1052. The support surface of the auxiliary PS 1052 iscloser to the base substrate 101 that that of the main PS 1052. That is,after the counter substrate 10 including the main PS 1051 and theauxiliary PS 1052 and the array substrate 20 are assembled together, andwhen the display panel is not subjected to an external pressure, asshown in FIG. 5 , the main PS 1051 may be supported on the arraysubstrate 20 and compressed to 90% of the original thickness thereof,that is, corresponding to the center of the liquid crystal margin (LCMargin), so as to have a good supporting effect. When the display panelis not subjected to the external pressure, as shown in FIG. 3 , there isa distance between the auxiliary PS 1052 and the array substrate 20; andwhen the display panel is subjected to the external pressure, theauxiliary PS 1052 participates in supporting the substrate, and thuseffectively resists the external force and quickly recovers when theexternal force is removed.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of auxiliary PSs1052 in the display area A may be greater than the number of main PSs1051. Taking the counter substrate 10 divided into multiple cycles as anexample, the ratio of the number of auxiliary PSs 1052 to the number ofmain PSs 1051 in each cycle is 50 to 100, such as 50, 60, 70, 80, 90,100 and so on.

The dimension and height of different types of PSs in the display area Aneed to be monitored during the manufacturing process. Since thedimension of the PS is relatively small, and the number of the main PSs1051 is generally small, it is difficult for a device to accuratelyidentify the position of the main PS 1051 only depending on thedimension. Usually, a certain position around the main PS 1051 isdesigned to be vacant (i.e. without any PSs), to facilitate faster andmore accurate identification of the position of the main PS 1051 formonitoring the same. For example, it may be designed that no PS isarranged below the main PS 1051. When monitoring, it may quicklydetermine the position where no PS is arranged, and then according tothe aforementioned design rule, it may obtain that the PS at theposition above the position with no PS is the main PS 1051.

For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theorthographic projections of the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052on the base substrate 101 may be located in the orthographic projectionof the black matrix pattern layer on the base substrate 101, and locatedin the orthographic projection of the color filter layer 103 on the basesubstrate 101.

The distance between the main PS 1051 and the base substrate 101 in thethickness direction Z may be equal to that between the auxiliary PS 1052and the base substrate 101 in the thickness direction Z. In such case,in order that the support surface of the auxiliary PS 1052 is closer tothe base substrate 101 than the support surface of the main PS 1051, thethickness of the auxiliary PS 1052 may be designed to be smaller thanthe thickness of the main PS 1051. It should be understood that when thedistance between the main PS 1051 and the base substrate 101 is notequal to that between the auxiliary PS 1052 and the base substrate 101,the thickness of the auxiliary PS 1052 may also be designed to be equalto the thickness of the main PS 1051, as long as the support surface ofthe auxiliary PS 1052 is closer to the base substrate 101 than thesupport surface of the main PS 1051, and the distance between thesupport surface of the auxiliary PS 1052 and the support surface of themain PS 1051 in the thickness direction Z of the base substrate 101satisfies the requirement.

Optionally, the distance between the support surface of the main PS 1051and the support surface of the auxiliary PS 1052 in the thicknessdirection Z of the base substrate 101 may be 0.5 μm or less, that is, astep difference between the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1051 maybe 0.5 μm or less. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and it may be determined according to actual needs.

For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theorthographic projections of the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052on the base substrate 101 may be circular. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and the orthographic projectionsthereof may also be elliptical, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal andthe like. Further, the cross-sectional areas of the main PS 1051 and theauxiliary PS 1052 gradually decrease in the direction away from the basesubstrate 101, that is, the support surface area of the main PS 1051 isthe minimum cross-sectional area thereof, and the support surface areaof the auxiliary PS 1052 is the minimum cross-sectional area thereof,and the center lines of the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052extend in the thickness direction Z of the base substrate 101. That is,the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052 may respectively have acircular truncated cone structure as a whole.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the widths of the supportsurfaces of the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052 may respectivelybe 10 μm to 30 μm, such as 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm, 30 μm, and thelike. It should be understood that as mentioned above, the main PS 1051and the auxiliary PS 1052 are pillar-shaped structures. Therefore, itcan be known that the widths of the support surfaces of the main PS 1051and the auxiliary PS 1052 in all directions may be equal or not muchdifferent.

It should be noted that according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when the display panel is a liquid crystal display panel,the display area A is mainly supported by the liquid crystal and theaforementioned pillar-shaped PSs, and the non-display area B is mainlysupported by the liquid crystal and the frame sealant. However, sincethe distance between the frame sealant and the display area A isrelatively large, usually about 1000 μm, that the non-display area B isonly supported by the frame sealant and the liquid crystal support mayeasily cause an uneven cell thickness.

In view of the above, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, as shown in FIG. 2 , the PS pattern layer may be designed toinclude at least one peripheral barrier wall 1053 in addition to theaforementioned main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052. The peripheralbarrier wall 1053 may be located in the non-display area B and arrangedat at least one side of the display area A. The support surface of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 is closer to the base substrate 101 thanthe support surface of the main PS 1051, so as to function as auxiliarysupport for the non-display area B, and thus prevent the yellowingphenomenon around the display area A due to the uneven cell thickness inthe non-display area B and improve the picture quality. That is, afterthe counter substrate 10 including the peripheral barrier wall 1053 andthe array substrate 20 are assembled together, and when the displaypanel is not subjected to an external pressure, the main PS 1051 may besupported on the array substrate 20 and compressed to 90% of theoriginal thickness thereof, so as to have a good supporting effect. Whenthe display panel is not subjected to the external pressure, as shown inFIG. 3 , there is a distance between the peripheral barrier wall 1053and the array substrate 20; and when the display panel is subjected tothe external pressure, the peripheral barrier wall 1053 participates insupporting the substrate, and thus effectively resists the externalforce and quickly recovers when the external force is removed.

It should be understood that as shown in FIG. 3 , according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the peripheral barrier wall 1053may be located at least at the side of the frame sealant 30 close to thedisplay area A.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the peripheral barrier wall 1053 mayhave an elongated-strip shape with the same length direction as that ofa corresponding display area side in the display area A. Such design mayimprove the auxiliary support of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 to thedisplay area B, and at the same time, may effectively prevent thepollution of the liquid crystal due to the contact with thebefore-curing frame sealant 30.

In order to further improve the auxiliary support of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 to the non-display area B and further effectivelyprevent the pollution of the liquid crystal due to the contact with thebefore-curing frame sealant 30, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, in the length direction of the peripheral barrier wall 1053,two ends of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be flush with two endsof the corresponding display area side respectively; optionally, the twoends of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may extend beyond the two endsof the corresponding display area side respectively. In other words, thetwo ends of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be farther away fromthe center of the display area side than the two ends of thecorresponding display area side. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto, for example, one end of the peripheral barrier wall1053 may be flush with one end of the corresponding display area sideand the other end of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may extend beyondthe other end of the corresponding display area side, which depends onspecific situations, as long as the peripheral barrier wall 1053 mayprovide the auxiliary support for the non-display area B, and at thesame time, also effectively prevent the pollution of the liquid crystaldue to the contact with the before-curing frame sealant 30.

For example, in order to ensure the auxiliary support at the entirenon-display area B, the aforementioned peripheral barrier wall 1053 maybe arranged on the non-display area B at each display area side of thedisplay area A. As shown in FIG. 4 , there is an interval (i.e., noconnection) between the peripheral barrier walls 1053 corresponding toadjacent display area sides.

It should be noted that the display area side of the display area Amentioned in the embodiment of the present disclosure refers to theboundary between the display area A and the non-display area B.Moreover, the elongated-strip shape structure mentioned in theembodiment of the present disclosure means that the cross-sectionthereof includes four sides connected end to end in turn, and the foursides include two short sides opposite to each other in a firstdirection and two long sides opposite to each other in a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction. The distance between thetwo short sides in the first direction may be defined as a length, thedistance between the two long sides in the second direction may bedefined as a width, and the structure with the length much larger thanthe width is the elongated-strip shape structure. The aforementionedfirst direction may be the length direction of the elongated-strip shapestructure, and the second direction may be the width direction of theelongated-strip shape structure.

In addition, it should be noted that the short sides of theelongated-strip shape structure in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be linear, however, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and it may also be arc-shaped as a whole, or a part thereof islinear and a part thereof is arc-shaped. Similarly, the long sides ofthe elongated-strip shape structure may be linear, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and it may be arc-shaped as a whole,or a part thereof is linear and a part thereof is arc-shaped.

For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thedisplay area A as a whole may be rectangular, that is, the display areaA may be formed by connecting four linear display area sides end to end.In view of the above, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be designed to have arectangle orthographic projection on the base substrate 101, that is,the four sides of the cross-section of the peripheral barrier wall 1053may be designed to be linear. However, it should be understood thataccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the orthographicprojection of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 on the base substrate 101is not limited to a rectangle, and the two long sides thereof also bedesigned to be at least partially curved.

In the direction away from the base substrate 101, the cross-sectionalarea of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 remains unchanged, and thecenter line of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 extends in the thicknessdirection Z of the base substrate 101, that is, the peripheral barrierwall 1053 is a rectangular block as a whole.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the orthographic projectionof the peripheral barrier wall 1053 on the base substrate 101 may belocated in the orthographic projection of the black matrix pattern layeron the base substrate 101 and outside the orthographic projection of thecolor filter layer 103 on the base substrate 101. Since the orthographicprojection of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 on the base substrate 101does not overlap with the orthographic projection of the color filterlayer 103 on the base substrate 101, that is, the standing position ofthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 on the base substrate 101 is lower thanthe standing positions of the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052 onthe base substrate 101, in order to reduce the process design difficultyof the PS pattern layer, the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may bedesigned to have a same thickness as that of the main PS 1051 or theauxiliary PS 1052. However, since the auxiliary PS 1052 and the main PS1051 themselves have a step difference of about 5 μm, and the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 has a lower standing position, if the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is designed to have the same thickness as that of theauxiliary PS 1052, the step difference between the peripheral barrierwall 1053 and the main PS 1051 would be further increased, which willseriously weaken the auxiliary supporting effect of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053. Therefore, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be designed to have thesame thickness as that of the main PS 1051, which may ensure theauxiliary supporting effect of the peripheral barrier wall 1053, and atthe same time, may reduce the mask cost and the difficulty of productionand management of the PS pattern layer.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the distance between thesupport surface of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the supportsurface of the main PS 1051 in the thickness direction Z of the basesubstrate 101 may be a first distance S1, as shown in FIG. 2 , the firstdistance S1 may be 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm, for example, 0.2 μm, 0.3 μm, 0.4μm, 0.5 μm, and the like, so that the supporting performance thereof maymeet the requirements.

It should be noted that usually, the display area A may be subjected toan external pressure greater than that on the non-display area B.Therefore, in order that the auxiliary PS 1052 and the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 may substantially simultaneously participate insupporting the substrate when the substrate is subjected to the externalpressure so that the uniformity of the entire cell thickness may beensured, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the support surfaceof the auxiliary PS 1052 may be slightly closer to the base substrate101 than the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall 1053.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the supportsurface of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may also be flush with thesupport surface of the auxiliary PS 1052, that is, the distance betweenthe support surface of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the basesubstrate 101 in the thickness direction Z is equal to the distancebetween the support surface of the auxiliary PS 1052 and the basesubstrate 101 in the thickness direction Z, which depends specificsituations, as long as when the display panel is not subjected to theexternal pressure, it may ensure that there is a certain distancebetween the auxiliary PS 1052 and the peripheral barrier wall 1053 andthe array substrate 20, so as to prevent the yellowing phenomenon aroundthe product due to the uneven cell thickness caused by too strongsupporting, and ensure that when the display panel is subjected to theexternal pressure, it may effectively resist the external force andrecover quickly when the external force is removed.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as mentioned above, sincethe distance between the frame sealant 30 and the display area A isrelatively large, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 , in order to further ensurethe cell thickness uniformity between the frame sealant 30 and thedisplay area A, the PS pattern layer may further include at least oneperipheral PS group located in the non-display area B in addition to theaforementioned peripheral barrier wall 1053 located in the non-displayarea B. The peripheral PS group is located at least at a side of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 close to the display area A. Specifically,the peripheral PS group may include a plurality of peripheral PSs 1054spaced apart from each other along the length direction of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 corresponding to the peripheral PS group.The peripheral PS 1054 may have a pillar shape, and the shape and thewidth of the support surface thereof may refer to the above descriptionof the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052, which will not berepeated herein.

It should be understood that according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the support surface of the peripheral PS 1054 is also closerto the base substrate 101 than the support surface of the main PS 1051,so as to function as auxiliary support for the non-display area B, andthus prevent the yellowing phenomenon around the display area A due tothe uneven cell thickness in the non-display area B and improve thepicture quality. That is, after the counter substrate 10 including theperipheral PSs 1054 and the array substrate 20 are assembled together,and when the display panel is not subjected to an external pressure, themain PS 1051 may be supported on the array substrate 20 and compressedto 90% of the original thickness thereof, so as to have a goodsupporting effect. When the display panel is not subjected to theexternal pressure, as shown in FIG. 3 , there is a distance between theperipheral PS 1053 and the array substrate 20; and when the displaypanel is subjected to the external pressure, the peripheral PS 1054 mayparticipate in supporting the substrate, and thus effectively resiststhe external force and quickly recovers when the external force isremoved.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 2 , thesupport surface of the peripheral PS 1054 may be flush with the supportsurface of the peripheral barrier wall 1053, so that the peripheral PS1054 and the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may substantiallysimultaneously participate in supporting the substrate when there is anexternal pressure, to ensure the uniformity of the entire cellthickness. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, thesupport surface of the peripheral PS 1054 may also be slightly closer tothe base substrate 101 than the support surface of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053, which depends on specific situations, as long asactual requirements can be met.

In addition, since the external pressure subjected by the display area Ais usually greater than the external pressure subjected by thenon-display area B, in order that the auxiliary PS 1052 and theperipheral PS 1054 may substantially simultaneously participate insupporting the substrate when the substrate is subjected to the externalpressure so that the uniformity of the entire cell thickness may beensured, the support surface of the peripheral PS 1054 may also beslightly farther from the base substrate 101 than the support surface ofthe auxiliary PS 1052.

For example, the orthographic projection of the peripheral PS 1054 onthe base substrate 101 is located within the orthographic projection ofthe black matrix pattern layer on the base substrate 101 and outside theorthographic projection of the color filter layer 103 on the basesubstrate 101.

The standing position of the peripheral PS 1054 and the standingposition of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be flush with eachother, that is, the distance between the peripheral PS 1054 and the basesubstrate 101 in the thickness direction Z may be equal to the distancebetween the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the base substrate 101 inthe thickness direction Z. In order that the support surface of theperipheral PS 1054 may be flush with the support surface of theperipheral barrier wall 1053, the peripheral PS 1054 may be designed tohave the same thickness as that of the peripheral barrier wall 1053.

For example, in order to further improve the auxiliary support of theperipheral PS group to the non-display area B, in the length directionof the peripheral barrier wall 1053, two ends of each peripheral PSgroup may be flush with two ends of the corresponding peripheral barrierwall 1053 respectively; optionally, the two ends of each peripheral PSgroup may extend beyond the two ends of the corresponding peripheralbarrier wall 1053 respectively. In other words, the two ends of theperipheral PS group may be farther away from the center of thecorresponding peripheral barrier wall 1053 than the two ends of thecorresponding peripheral barrier wall 1053. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, for example, one end of theperipheral PS group may be flush with one end of the correspondingperipheral barrier wall 1053 and the other end of the peripheral PSgroup may extend beyond the other end of the peripheral barrier wall1053, which depends on specific situations, as long as the peripheral PSgroup may provide the auxiliary support for the non-display area B.

In addition, in the length direction of the peripheral barrier wall1053, the distance between adjacent peripheral PSs 1054 is equal to thedistance between adjacent auxiliary PSs 1052 to ensure the auxiliarysupport strength of the non-display area B. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and the distance between adjacentperipheral PSs 1054 may also be not equal to the distance betweenadjacent auxiliary PSs 1052, which depends on specific situations.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , at least one peripheral PS group isarranged on the non-display area B at each side of the display area A toensure the support uniformity of the non-display area B.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the peripheral PS group maybe arranged at both sides of at least part of the peripheral barrierwalls 1053 in the width direction thereof to ensure the auxiliarysupporting effect of the non-display area B.

The alignment film 104 may be formed on the base substrate 101.Specifically, the alignment film 104 may be formed after the blackmatrix pattern layer, the color filter layer 103, and the PS patternlayer are formed. It should be noted that the alignment film 104 may beformed by coating the whole layer thereof, and may be located in thedisplay area A and the non-display area B. Therefore, the alignment film104 may cover the PS pattern layer. It should be understood that asshown in FIG. 2 , the alignment film 104 may cover the base substrate101, the main PS 1051, the auxiliary PS 1052, the peripheral barrierwall 1053, and the peripheral PS 1054.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the alignment film 104 maybe formed by coating after the PS pattern layer is formed, so that thearea of the alignment film 104 may be increased, and thus the area ofthe alignment film 104 in contact with the liquid crystal may beincreased, therefore a better alignment may be provided and the displayeffect may be improved. It should be noted that the alignment film 104may also be coated before the PS pattern layer is formed and after thecolor filter layer 103 is formed. However, the present disclosure ismainly explained by coating the alignment film 104 after the PS patternlayer is formed.

For example, the alignment film 104 may be formed in the following twomanners.

The first manner is a non-contact type, also known as inkjet type. Inparticular, tiny droplets are applied to the surface of a substrate byinkjet printing, and the droplets diffuse freely on the substratesurface to form a film under normal temperature or heated temperature.Such manner has advantages such as liquid-saving, short cycle time, highproductivity and the like. However, the test found that due to the lowviscosity of the droplet, the diffusion effect is highly dependent onthe substrate surface, and further, due to the surface tension, theliquid is difficult to flow into holes, and thus tends to formaccumulations on the base substrate 101 in the display area A, whichmacroscopically appear as uneven display brightness (i.e., Muraphenomenon).

The second manner is a contact type, also known as coater type (coatingtype). In particular, during the coater coating, alignment film solution(i.e., PI solution) is dropped between a transfer roller and a scraperthrough a nozzle, and while the transfer roller rotates, the scraperswings to scrape the PI solution on the transfer roller evenly; and thetransfer roller is in rotary contact with a transfer printing plate toevenly transfer the PI solution to the transfer printing plate; and thetransfer printing plate rotates and contacts the counter substrate 10 onwhich the PS pattern layer is formed, and transfers the PI solution inthe mesh holes of the transfer printing plate onto the surface of thecounter substrate by pressure to form a pattern. It should be noted thatin an embodiment of the present disclosure, both the diameter of themesh hole of the transfer printing plate used and the diameter of theprotrusion around the mesh hole are about 21 μm, and the depth of themesh hole is about 16 μm. The coater coating has advantages such as highdroplet viscosity, uniform film surface, and low dependence on thesubstrate. That is, the coater coating may effectively prevent the filmthickness unevenness of the alignment film 104 due to the deep hole andhigh step difference in the display area A. Therefore, the coatercoating method is preferred to fabricate the alignment film 104 in thepresent disclosure.

However, experiments found that although the coater coating mayeffectively prevent the uneven thickness of the alignment film 104 dueto deep hole and high step difference in the display area A, thesolution tends to accumulate at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 in thenon-display area B. This makes the alignment film 104 at the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 thicker, which is directly equivalent to increasingthe thickness of the peripheral barrier wall 1053. If the thicknessexceeds a certain threshold, the alignment film 104 contacts andsupports the array substrate 20 at the position where the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is located when the display panel is not subjected toan external pressure. Since the support density of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is much greater than the support density of the mainPS 1051 in the display area A, it is easy to cause the non-display areaB to be too strongly supported, which tends to make the cell thicknessin the non-display area B too large. Although the supporting position ofthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 is in the non-display area B, the cellthickness has a gradually-extended influence, therefore, if the cellthickness is too large, the influence thereof will extend to the edge ofthe corresponding display area A, as shown in FIG. 5 . This makes thedifference between the cell thickness at the edge of the display area Aand the cell thickness at the inner of the display area A too large, andas actually measured, such difference may reach 0.2 μm or more, whichmacroscopically appears the yellowing at the edge of the display area.

In view of the above, in order to solve the problem of excessively largecell thickness in the non-display area B, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, it may prevent the alignment film solution frombeing accumulated at the peripheral barrier wall 1053.

In particular, during the coater coating, the alignment film solution(i.e., PI solution) is dropped between a transfer roller and a scraperthrough a nozzle, and while the transfer roller rotates, the scraperswings to scrape the PI solution on the transfer roller evenly; and thetransfer roller is in rotary contact with a transfer printing plate toevenly transfer the PI solution to the transfer printing plate; and thetransfer printing plate rotates and contacts the counter substrate 10 onwhich the PS pattern layer is formed, and transfers the PI solution inthe mesh holes of the transfer printing plate onto the surface of thecounter substrate by pressure to form a pattern. It should be noted thatin an embodiment of the present disclosure, both the diameter of themesh hole of the transfer printing plate used and the diameter of theprotrusion around the mesh hole are about 21 μm.

In an embodiment, during transferring the PI solution in the mesh holeof the transfer printing plate to the substrate surface by pressure, theperipheral barrier wall 1053 would squeeze the transfer printing plateto extrude the PI solution out of the mesh hole and into the area wherethe peripheral barrier wall 1053 is located. Therefore, in order toprevent the problem that the cell thickness is too large at theperipheral barrier wall 1053 due to the excessive accumulation of the PIsolution at the peripheral barrier wall 1053, the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may be adjusted (as shown in FIG. 2 ), sothat the thickness of the alignment film 104 added at the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is smaller than the aforementioned first distance S1(that is, the distance between the support surface of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 and the support surface of the main PS 1051 in thethickness direction Z of the base substrate 101) or slightly thickerthan the first distance S1 by less than 0.1 μm, so as to prevent thecell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 from being too largedue to the too strong supporting at the peripheral barrier wall 1053when the display panel is not subjected to an external pressure, andthus prevent the problem of yellowing at the edge of the display area.

When the coater coating is performed by using the aforementionedtransfer printing plate, the inventor found through a large number ofcalculations and experiments that the thickness of the alignment film104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may have a relationship shown in FIG. 6 .It should be noted that the abscissa in FIG. 6 represents the width W ofthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 in micrometers (μm), and the ordinatein FIG. 6 represents the thickness of the alignment film 104 on theperipheral barrier wall 1053 in angstroms (Å). Specifically, referringto FIG. 6 , when the width W of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 is 32μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 on the peripheral barrierwall 1053 may be 3227 Å (i.e., approximately equal to 0.32 μm); when thewidth W of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 is 21 μm, the thickness ofthe alignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 2104 Å(i.e., approximately equal to 0.21 μm); when the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 is 15 μm, the thickness of the alignmentfilm 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1514 Å (i.e.,approximately equal to 0.15 μm); when the width W of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is 12 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 onthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1245 Å (i.e., approximatelyequal to 0.12 μm), that is, the thickness of the alignment film 104 onthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the width W of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 may have a proportional relationship, and theproportionality coefficient thereof may be 100.

Based on the aforementioned relationship between the thickness of thealignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the width Wof the peripheral barrier wall 1053, when the distance (i.e., the firstdistance S1) between the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall1053 and the support surface of the main PS 1051 in the thicknessdirection Z of the base substrate 101 remains unchanged, the width W ofthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be adjusted in an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, so that the ratio between the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 and the first distance S1 may be less than100, and thus the thickness of the alignment film 104 added at theperipheral barrier wall 1053 is smaller than the aforementioned firstdistance S1 or slightly thicker than the first distance S1 by less than0.1 μm, so as to prevent the cell thickness at the peripheral barrierwall 1053 from being too large due to the too strong supporting at theperipheral barrier wall 1053 when the display panel is not subjected toan external pressure, and thus prevent the problem of yellowing at theedge of the display area.

It should be noted that when the width W of the peripheral barrier wall1053 is close to or exceeds the distance between adjacent mesh holes ofthe transfer printing plate (i.e., the width of the protrusion), thatis, the width W of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 is 20 μm or more,two adjacent mesh holes tends to be squeezed by the same peripheralbarrier wall 1053, so that the PI solution in the adjacent two meshholes would accumulate at this peripheral barrier wall 1053, which willeasily cause the alignment film 104 at the peripheral barrier wall 1053to have a thickness of 0.2 μm or more. Therefore, in order to furtherprevent the cell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 frombeing too large due to the too strong supporting at the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 when the display panel is not subjected to an externalpressure, when the first distance S1 is 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm, the width W ofthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be designed to be less than orequal to 15 μm. In addition, in order to ensure the auxiliary supporteffect of the peripheral barrier wall 1053, the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may not be too small. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the width W of the peripheral barrier wall 1053is designed to be greater than or equal to 10 μm, that is, the width Wof the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 10 μm to 15 μm, such as 10μm, 11 μm, 12 μm, 13 μm, 14 μm, 15 μm, and the like. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the width W of the peripheral barrier wall 1053may be designed to be less than or equal to 12 μm.

It should be understood that the width W of the peripheral barrier wall1053 is not limited to the above-mentioned value range, and the othervalues are possible as long as it may ensure the supporting effect andat the same time prevent the cell thickness from being too large. Thelength of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may depend on the size of thedisplay panel, and is generally several hundred millimeters. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the thicknesses of the main PS1051, the peripheral barrier wall 1053, and the peripheral PS 1054 maybe 3 μm, and the thickness of the auxiliary PS 1052 may be slightly lessthan 3 μm, however the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Thespecific thicknesses of the main PS 1051, the auxiliary PS 1052, theperipheral barrier wall 1053, and the peripheral PS 1054 may bedetermined according to the actual cell thickness requirements.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to further preventthe cell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 from being toolarge due to the excessive accumulation of PI solution at the peripheralbarrier wall 1053, the distance between the peripheral barrier wall 1053and the peripheral PS group adjacent thereto may also be adjusted.Specifically, the distance between at least part of the peripheral PSs1054 in each peripheral PS group and the peripheral barrier wall 1053adjacent thereto is the second distance S2, as shown in FIG. 2 .

When the coater coating is performed by using the aforementionedtransfer printing plate, the inventor found through a large number ofcalculations and experiments that the thickness of the alignment film104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the second distance S2 mayhave a relationship shown in FIG. 7 . It should be noted that theabscissa in FIG. 7 represents the second distance S2 in micrometers(μm), and the ordinate in FIG. 7 represents the thickness of thealignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 in angstroms (Å).Specifically, referring to FIG. 7 , when the width of the seconddistance S2 is 11 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 on theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may be 4972 Å (i.e., approximately equal to0.50 μm). When the width of the second distance S2 is 30 μm, thethickness of the alignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053may be 4536 Å (i.e., approximately equal to 0.45 μm). When the width ofthe second distance S2 is 39 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 3689 Å (i.e., approximatelyequal to 0.37 μm). When the width of the second distance S2 is 52 μm,the thickness of the alignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall1053 may be 2466 Å (i.e., approximately equal to 0.25 μm). When thewidth of the second distance S2 is 80 μm, the thickness of the alignmentfilm 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1884 Å (i.e.,approximately equal to 0.19 μm). When the width of the second distanceS2 is 85 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 on the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 may be 1245 Å (i.e., approximately equal to 0.12 μm).When the width of the second distance S2 is 86 μm, the thickness of thealignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1714 Å(i.e., approximately equal to 0.17 μm). When the width of the seconddistance S2 is 103 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 on theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1194 Å (i.e., approximately equal to0.12 μm). When the width of the second distance S2 is 106 μm, thethickness of the alignment film 104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053may be 1150 Å (i.e., approximately equal to 0.12 μm). When the width ofthe second distance S2 is 237 μm, the thickness of the alignment film104 on the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be 1069 Å (i.e.,approximately equal to 0.11 μm).

In view of the above, when the peripheral PS 1054 is too close to theperipheral barrier wall 1053, that is, the second distance S2 is toosmall, the peripheral PS 1054 may prevent the PI solution at theperipheral barrier wall 1053 from spreading to the surroundings. As aresult, the alignment film 104 at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 andthe peripheral PS 1054 is likely to be too thick. Therefore, in order toprevent the cell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and theperipheral PS 1054 from being too large due to the excessiveaccumulation of PI solution at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and theperipheral PS 1054, when the distance between the support surface of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 and the support surface of the main PS 1051in the thickness direction Z of the base substrate 101 (i.e., the firstdistance S1) remains unchanged, the distance between the peripheral PS1054 and the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be adjusted so that thethickness of the alignment film 104 at the peripheral barrier wall 1053and the peripheral PS 1054 is smaller than the aforementioned firstdistance S1 (i.e., the distance between the support surface of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 and the support surface of the main PS 1051in the thickness direction Z of the base substrate 101) or slightlythicker than the first distance S1 by less than 0.1 μm.

Specifically, in view of that shown in FIG. 7 , the ratio between thedistance between the peripheral PS 1054 and the peripheral barrier wall1053 and the distance between the support surface of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 and the support surface of the main PS 1051 in thethickness direction Z of the base substrate 101 may be greater than 400,that is, the ratio between the second distance S2 and the first distanceS1 is greater than 400, so that the thickness of the alignment film 104at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the peripheral PS 1054 issmaller than the aforementioned first distance S1 or slightly thickerthan the first distance S1 by less than 0.1 μm, which may prevent thecell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 from being too largedue to too strong supporting at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and theperipheral PS 1054 when the display panel is not subjected to anexternal pressure, and thus may solve the problem of yellowing at thedisplay edge.

As shown in FIG. 7 , when the second distance S2 is less than 50 μm, thethickness of the alignment film 104 at the peripheral barrier wall 1053is larger than 0.2 μm, and when the second distance S2 is not less than80 μm, the thickness of the alignment film 104 at the peripheral barrierwall 1053 is smaller than 0.2 μm. Therefore, when the aforementionedfirst distance S1 is 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm, in order to further prevent thecell thickness at the peripheral barrier wall 1053 from being too largedue to the too strong supporting at the peripheral barrier wall 1053when the display panel is not subjected to an external pressure, thesecond distance S2 may be designed to be 80 μm or more. In addition, inorder to ensure the support uniformity, the distance between theperipheral wall 1053 and the peripheral PS 1054 may be not too large,the second distance S2 may be specifically designed to be no greaterthan 100 μm, that is, the second distance S2 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure may be 80 μm to 100 μm, such as 80 μm, 85 μm,90 μm, 95 μm, 100 μm, and the like. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the second distance S2 may be designed to be not less than90 μm.

It should be understood that the second distance S2 is not limited tothe above-mentioned value range, and the other values are possible aslong as it may ensure the supporting effect and at the same time preventthe cell thickness from being too large.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the orthographicprojection of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 on the base substrate 101is rectangular, the distance between the peripheral barrier walls 1053and each of the peripheral PSs 1054 in the peripheral PS groupcorresponding to the peripheral barrier wall 1053 may be the seconddistance S2. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, andthe peripheral barrier wall 1053 may also be partially bent towards adirection away from the peripheral PS 1054, so that the distancetherebetween may reach the aforementioned second distance S2, whichdepends on specific situations.

It should be noted that in an embodiment of the present disclosure, thethickness of the alignment film 104 on a sub-pixel area of the countersubstrate 10 may be about 0.1 μm, and the thickness of the alignmentfilm 104 on the main PS 1051 and the auxiliary PS 1052 may be a fewhundredths of a micrometer.

In addition, it should be noted that according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the counter substrate 10 is not limited to includethe aforementioned film layer structure, and may further include atransparent protective layer. The transparent protective layer may beformed after the color filter layer 103 is formed and before the PSpattern layer is formed. The transparent protective layer is entirelyarranged in the display area A and the non-display area B to protect thecolor filter layer 103 and the black matrix pattern layer.

An embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a display panel,as shown in FIG. 3 , which includes the counter substrate 10 describedin any of the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated here,and may also include the array substrate 20 which is assembled togetherwith the counter substrate 10. The part of the alignment film 104 of thecounter substrate 10 corresponding to the main PS 1051 is in contactwith the array substrate 20; and there is a gap between the part of thealignment film 104 of the counter substrate 10 corresponding to theperipheral barrier wall 1053 and the array substrate 20.

It should be understood that according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the display panel may be a liquid crystal display panel.That is, as shown in FIG. 3 , the display panel may further include aframe sealant 30 and a liquid crystal (not shown). The frame sealant 30may be arranged between the counter substrate 10 and the array substrate20. The frame sealant 30 is located in the non-display area B andsurrounds the display area A, and is located at the side of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 away from the display area A. The liquidcrystal may be filled in the area enclosed by the frame sealant 30, thecounter substrate 10, and the array substrate 20. The liquid crystal maybe a positive liquid crystal or a negative liquid crystal.

It should be noted that the orthographic projection of the frame sealant30 on the base substrate 101 may be located within the orthographicprojection of the black matrix pattern layer (i.e., the second shieldingportion 1022) on the base substrate 101.

For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thedisplay panel may be rectangular as a whole. That is, the display panelmay include a DP side (the side where a source driver is provided) and aDPO side (the side opposite to the DP side in a column direction)arranged in the column direction and a GL side and a GR side arrangedoppositely in a row direction. The GL side and the GR side are the sideswhere a gate drive circuit is provided.

FIG. 8 shows a change of the cell thickness at each of the DP side, DPOside, GL side and GR side of the display panel from a side of thedisplay area A to a center thereof when the width W of the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 is 15 μm and the distance between the peripheralbarrier wall 1053 and the peripheral PS 1054 is 15 μm to 30 μm, and FIG.9 shows a change of the cell thickness at each of the DP side, DPO side,GL side and GR side of the display panel from a side of the display areaA to a center thereof when the width W of the peripheral barrier wall1053 is 12 μm and the distance between the peripheral barrier wall 1053and the peripheral PS 1054 is greater than 90 μm. It should be notedthat, the direction from left to right on the abscissa in FIGS. 8 and 9refers to the direction from the side to the inside of the display areaA, and the ordinate in FIGS. 8 and 9 refers to the cell thickness inmicrometers (μm).

FIG. 8 shows that the cell thickness of the edge of the display area Aat each of the DP side, DPO side, GL side, and GR side of the displaypanel is higher than the cell thickness at the center of the displaypanel by 0.2 μm or more, and the yellowing level is positivelycorrelated with the cell thickness difference. That is to say, thegreater the cell thickness difference, the higher the yellowing level.The yellowing level at the edge of the display area A in FIG. 8 is 2.FIG. 9 shows that the cell thickness of the edge of the display area Aat each of the DP side, DPO side, GL side, and GR side of the displaypanel is higher than the cell thickness at the center of the displaypanel by less than 0.1 μm or slightly lower than the cell thickness atthe center of the display panel (according to the experiences, the“slightly lower” will not cause defects), and the yellowing level isless than 0.5 (when the yellowing level is no more than 1, the productrequirements can be met). That is, in view of FIGS. 8 and 9 , accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, the width W of theperipheral barrier wall 1053 may be not greater than 12 μm, the distancebetween the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the peripheral PS 1054 maybe not less than 90 μm, which at the same time can ensure the supporteffect of the peripheral barrier wall 1053 and the peripheral PS 1054.

An embodiment of the present disclosure also provides an electronicapparatus, which includes the display panel described in any of theforegoing embodiments.

It should be noted that, in addition to the aforementioned displaypanel, the electronic apparatus may also include other parts andcomponents, such as polarizer, backlight module, battery, motherboard,housing and the like, which can be added by those skilled in the artaccording to the specific usage requirements of the electronicapparatus, which will not be repeated herein.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the specific type of theelectronic apparatus is not particularly limited, and may include anytype of electronic devices commonly used in the art, such as TV, mobilephone, computer, medical equipment and the like, which may be selectedby those skilled in the art according to a specific purpose of theapparatus, and will not be repeated herein.

Those skilled in the art will easily conceive of other embodiments ofthe present disclosure after considering the specification andpracticing the content disclosed herein. The present disclosure isintended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptive changes of thepresent disclosure, which follow the general principles of the presentdisclosure and include common knowledge or conventional technical meansin the technical field that are not disclosed in the present disclosure.The description and the embodiments are only regarded as exemplary, andthe true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are pointed out bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A counter substrate comprising a display area anda non-display area arranged around the display area, wherein the countersubstrate comprises a base substrate, a photo spacer (PS) pattern layerformed on the base substrate and an alignment film covering the PSpattern layer, a surface of the PS pattern layer away from the basesubstrate is a support surface, and the PS pattern layer comprises: aplurality of main PSs, located in the display area, and each having apillar shape; at least one peripheral barrier wall, located in thenon-display area and arranged at at least one side of the display area,the peripheral barrier wall substantially having an elongated-stripshape and having a same length direction as that of a display area side,corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall, of the display area, thesupport surface of the peripheral barrier wall being closer to the basesubstrate than the support surface of the main PS, and a distancebetween the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall and thesupport surface of the main PS in a thickness direction of the basesubstrate being a first distance; and at least one first peripheral PSgroup, arranged on the non-display area, the first peripheral PS groupbeing located at least at a side of the peripheral barrier wall awayfrom the display area and comprising a plurality of first peripheral PSsspaced apart from each other along the length direction of theperipheral barrier wall corresponding to the first peripheral PS group,and the first peripheral PS having a pillar shape, wherein a ratiobetween a width of the support surface of the peripheral barrier walland the first distance is less than 100, wherein the PS pattern layerfurther comprises: at least one second peripheral PS group, arranged onthe non-display area, the second peripheral PS group being located atleast at a side of the peripheral barrier wall close to the displayarea, wherein the second peripheral PS group comprises a plurality ofsecond peripheral PSs spaced apart from each other along the lengthdirection of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to the secondperipheral PS group, the second peripheral PS has a pillar shape, andthe support surface of the second peripheral PS and the support surfaceof the peripheral barrier wall are in a same plane.
 2. The countersubstrate according to claim 1, wherein the first distance is in a rangeof 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.
 3. The counter substrate according to claim 2,wherein the width of the support surface of the peripheral barrier wallis in a range of 10 μm to 15 μm.
 4. The counter substrate according toclaim 1, wherein a distance between at least part of the secondperipheral PSs in each of the at least one second peripheral PS groupand the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to the second peripheralPSs is a second distance, and a ratio between the second distance andthe first distance is greater than
 400. 5. The counter substrateaccording to claim 4, wherein the second distance is in a range of 80 μmto 100 μm.
 6. The counter substrate according to claim 4, wherein anorthographic projection of the peripheral barrier wall on the basesubstrate is a rectangle, and the distance between the peripheralbarrier wall and each of the second peripheral PSs in the secondperipheral PS group corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall.
 7. Thecounter substrate according to claim 1, wherein in the length directionof the peripheral barrier wall, two ends of the peripheral barrier wallare respectively flush with two ends of the display area sidecorresponding to the peripheral barrier wall, or the two ends of theperipheral barrier wall respectively extend beyond the two ends of thedisplay area side corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall; and inthe length direction of the peripheral barrier wall, two ends of each ofthe at least one second peripheral PS group are respectively flush withthe two ends of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to the secondperipheral PS group, or the two ends of each of the at least one secondperipheral PS group respectively exceed beyond the two ends of theperipheral barrier wall corresponding to the second peripheral PS group.8. The counter substrate according to claim 1, wherein the at least oneperipheral barrier wall and the at least one second peripheral PS groupare arranged on the non-display area at each display area side of thedisplay area.
 9. The counter substrate according to claim 1, wherein thePS pattern layer further comprises: a plurality of auxiliary PSs,located in the display area, the auxiliary PS having a pillar shape, andthe support surface of the auxiliary PS being closer to the basesubstrate than the support surface of the main PS, wherein a number ofthe auxiliary PSs is greater than that of the main PSs.
 10. The countersubstrate according to claim 9, wherein in the length direction of theperipheral barrier wall, a distance between adjacent ones of the secondperipheral PSs is equal to that between adjacent ones of the auxiliaryPSs.
 11. The counter substrate according to claim 9, wherein in thethickness direction of the base substrate, thicknesses of the main PS,the second peripheral PS, and the peripheral barrier wall are the sameand greater than a thickness of the auxiliary PS.
 12. The countersubstrate according to claim 11, further comprising a black matrixpattern layer and a color filter layer, wherein the black matrix patternlayer is arranged between the base substrate and the PS pattern layer,and the color filter layer is arranged between the black matrix patternlayer and the PS pattern layer; orthographic projections of theperipheral barrier wall and the second peripheral PSs on the basesubstrate are located in an orthographic projection of the black matrixpattern layer on the base substrate and outside an orthographicprojection of the color filter layer on the base substrate; andorthographic projections of the main PSs and the auxiliary PSs on thebase substrate are located in the orthographic projection of the blackmatrix pattern layer on the base substrate and in the orthographicprojection of the color filter layer on the base substrate.
 13. Adisplay panel comprising a counter substrate and an array substrateassembled together, wherein the counter substrate comprises display areaand a non-display area arranged around the display area, and wherein thecounter substrate comprises a base substrate, a photo spacer (PS)pattern layer formed on the base substrate and an alignment filmcovering the PS pattern layer, a surface of the PS pattern layer awayfrom the base substrate is a support surface, and the PS pattern layercomprises: a plurality of main PSs, located in the display area, andeach having a pillar shape; at least one peripheral barrier wall,located in the non-display area and arranged at at least one side of thedisplay area, the peripheral barrier wall substantially having anelongated-strip shape and having a same length direction as that of adisplay area side, corresponding to the peripheral barrier wall, of thedisplay area, the support surface of the peripheral barrier wall beingcloser to the base substrate than the support surface of the main PS,and a distance between the support surface of the peripheral barrierwall and the support surface of the main PS in a thickness direction ofthe base substrate being a first distance; and at least one firstperipheral PS group, arranged on the non-display area, the firstperipheral PS group being located at least at a side of the peripheralbarrier wall away from the display area and comprising a plurality offirst peripheral PSs spaced apart from each other along the lengthdirection of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to the firstperipheral PS group, and the first peripheral PS having a pillar shape,wherein a ratio between a width of the support surface of the peripheralbarrier wall and the first distance is less than 100, wherein the PSpattern layer further comprises: at least one second peripheral PSgroup, arranged on the non-display area, the second peripheral PS groupbeing located at least at a side of the peripheral barrier wall close tothe display area, wherein the second peripheral PS group comprises aplurality of second peripheral PSs spaced apart from each other alongthe length direction of the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to thesecond peripheral PS group, the second peripheral PS has a pillar shape,and the support surface of the second peripheral PS and the supportsurface of the peripheral barrier wall are in a same plane.
 14. Thedisplay panel according to claim 13, wherein a part of the alignmentfilm of the counter substrate corresponding to the main PS is in contactwith the array substrate; and a gap is provided between a part of thealignment film of the counter substrate corresponding to the peripheralbarrier wall and the array substrate.
 15. The display panel according toclaim 13, further comprising: a frame sealant, arranged between thecounter substrate and the array substrate and in the non-display area,surrounding the display area, and located at a side of the peripheralbarrier wall away from the display area; and liquid crystal, filled inan area enclosed by the frame sealant, the counter substrate and thearray substrate.
 16. The display panel according to claim 13, whereinthe first distance is in a range of 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.
 17. The displaypanel according to claim 13, wherein the width of the support surface ofthe peripheral barrier wall is in a range of 10 μm to 15 μm.
 18. Thedisplay panel according to claim 13, wherein a distance between at leastpart of the second peripheral PSs in each of the at least one secondperipheral PS group and the peripheral barrier wall corresponding to thesecond peripheral PSs is a second distance, and a ratio between thesecond distance and the first distance is greater than 400.